Control gate



April 20 1926. 1,581,430

L. L. EDMUNDS ETAL' CONTROL GATE l Filed May 18*I 1925 [(qlllllllllll/lll/l/ l 5 @ai "hun" l Y Y Y INVENTORS.

/M ma Patented Apr. 20, 1926,

Ara-NT to'FiFQIfClE- Application filed May 18,

A-Be it known that we, LOUIS L. EDMUNns and JOHN C. Anonnsnm'citizens of the United States, residing at'Crockett, county of Contra Costa,l and State of California, have invented new and usefulv Improvements 1n AGontrolf Gates, vof which the following 1s a.:

specification.

This invention relatesrto a control gate and particularly vpertains to avalveffmechanism for-the control of bulk granular ma-v terial.

The principal object of the present 1nventio-n is to provide a gate valve structurel by `which` -the'flow'l ofbulkgranular material may be readily -regulated orcompletely in-v terrupted as desired', and also by which the 'flowfof Vmaterial may be diverted from one l i ing interposed `a chute through ywhich VVflowing, vand within which housing a segvpassageway to another.

l`The present invention contemplates the use ofwa. substantially cylindrical valve housat a point inthe .length of granular mate-rial is mental arcuate valvemember is mounted to befoperatedl by means disposed exterior of..

theho'using and by whichl saidA valve member may bel accurately set with relation to the .flow passageway through the vchute in the housing. Y

The invention isifillustrated by way ofv example in theaccompanying. drawings, nr

1 of ygranular or v'otherib'ulli which:

v Fig. 1 is an enlarged fragmentaryyiew in y side elevation with vparts broken away to more clearly -disclose the voperation of the valve 1 member.

Fig. Q is a view in central verticalfsection through the device as seen on line 2;-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is av view in elevation showing an application' of the invention where material is `tof hev diverted from one passageway to another.

Referring more particularly to 'the-dran ings, 10 indicates a-feedchute in communication witlnany suitableY source'ofsupplyi materialV adapted totlow through Vsaid chutes. kMounted on the endY of said feed chute is a cylindrical gate housing 11. `The central axis of this housing extends transversely of the longitudinal axis of the chute and intersects the same. The cylindrical housing has an opening 12 in its uppermost side w'all through which the chute 10 extends. This chute, as shown i925.- serialNo.' 312247.'

CONTROL GATE.

in the drawings7 is rectangular, inwsection, i

.extends a distance within the housing substantially. equal to the diameter of the housing and terminatingnear an outlet opening 13 inthe lowermost side ofthe housing 1 1. An outlet chute 14 is in communication with said opening and carries away the granularmaterial which liows downwardly through the feed chute 10 into the housing 11v andout through the opening 13.

The flow of material is controlled by a segmental gate structure 15. ThisV gate as shown in Fig. 2' of the drawingsis formed with a pair of end segmentsl and 17 upon which is mounted an arcuate'shell 18 forming the valve portion of the gate. The chord of the are described by the shell- 18 is slightly longer than the width of the feed chute .10, so. that when the gate is in its lowermost yposition as indicated in Fig. 1 of the draw'- .ings, the gate will be disposed directly beneath theoutlet-fmouth of the feed chute 10 -and will close'the same.

- Referring again to Fig. 2 of the drawings, itwillbeseen that the end segments 16 and 17 of the gate are disposed along opposite sides of the feed chute 10 and are free to swing parallel .thereto uponaligned trunnions v19 and 220. These trunnions are so positioned as to insure that theshell plate v18 of the gate may swing beneath 'the mouth around the axis of the trunnions 10 and 20.

This movement will bring about varying degrees of obstruction vof the mouth of the chute 10 by the subjacent gate shell 18, and will'thus .vary the quantity flow of material from the chute l10` and into the lower chute 14:.

The ends of the housing 11 are closed by heads 23 which are formed with bearings for receiving the trunnions 19 and 20 and are also formed with serrated segments 24 receiving a catch member 25 by which the crank 21 may be adjustably set, and the gate material.

Referring to Fig. 3 ol the drawing, it

will be seen that feed chute is arranged to commui'iicatc with chutes 14 and 14. The `rflow ot material may be alternately controlled to either ot' the chutes 14 or 14 by swinging the gate trom one dotted line position indicated at an to another dotted line position indi ated at -Z)-, in which event one ot the receiving chutes will bc closed and the other one open to a varying control degree. i

In operation of the present invention it will be understood that the device is assembled substantially as shown in the drawings, and that granular material is being delivered through the feed chute 1l) to a receiving chute 14. In the event that the flow is to be completely interrupted, the gate 15 is swung to the position shown in Fig. 1 oi the drawings. This will completely obstruct the mouth or' the chute 10 and while the shell member 18 does not tightly t against this mouth to prevent the flow ot material, yet the overlapping edges of the sugar gate both at the ends of the shell 18 and along the sides of the segment 16 and 17 will act to form restricted passageways by which the granular material will be banked to completely choke the outlet mouth of the spout.

In the event that a flow of material is desired from the chute 10 to the receiving chute 1.4, the crank 21 may be swung in the direction ot the arrow -catter the catch member 25 has been withdrawn from register with one of the serrations in the segment 24. This will permit the crank to swing freely around its axis and will thus dispose the gate at a desired angle and to a position which will uncover the mouth of the chute 10 a desired amount. This, as will be readily understood, will permit the granular material to flow through the opening thus formed and will thereby determine and control 'the rate ot tlowl ot' the material Y from the chute 10 into the chute 14.

Then a desired adjustment of the gate has been made, the gate may be temporarily set in this position by releasing the catch member 25 and thus allowing its mechanism to thrust it into one ot the serrations of the meinb ir 24 so that the lever arm ot the gate will be temporarily locked. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3 it is intended to divert the iiow from chutes 14 and 14 or vice-versa, and'to at the same time control the liow of material from the chute 10 into either of said chutes.

It will thus be seen that with the device here disclosed it is possible to accurately and simply regulate the amount of material flowing through the pipe 10 and to divert this flow as convenience dictates.

ifihile we have shown the preferred form ot our invention as now known to us,it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction without departing from the spirit ot the invention as dehned in the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A control gate comprising a vertically disposed feed chute having a squared end in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the chute, a cylindrical housing mounted on the end of said feed chute, the axis ot the housing extending transversely ot the longitudinal axis oi' the chute and intersecting the same, said chute extending within the housing and substantially across the diameter of the housing, said housing having an outlet opening opposite the end ot the chute, head members at opposite ends of said housing, horizontally disposed trunnions journalled at the center of said head members and projecting within the housing, a pair ot' end segments disposed one at each end of the housing interiorly thereof, said end segments secured to said trunnions whereby they will swing in concentric relation to said housing, an arcuate valve plate extending between the ends of said segmental end members and normally positioned over the open end of said feed chute, said valve plate having a chord slightly longer than the diameter of the feed chute,.the mounting of said end members permitting said valve plate to be swung in concentric relation to the housing over the end of said feed chute, a serrated segment secured eXteriorly ot one of said head members, a crank arm secured on one of said trunnions exteriorly of the housing and said serrated segment, a spring-pressed catch carried by said crank arm engageable with said serrated segment whereby said valve structure may be pla-ced and retained in a selected position relative to the open end of said chute.

LOUIS L. EDMUNDS. JOHN C. ANDERSEN. 

